Nick Taylor in limbo after Memorial pulls plug on varsity men’s volleyball program

Nick Taylor was eager to finish up high school this month because he was eager to play varsity volleyball with the Memorial Sea-Hawks while pursuing a kinesiology degree.

Corner Brook’s Nick Taylor is in limbo about his future in volleyball. He was hoping to suit up for the Memorial Sea-Hawks for the 2017-2018 season but was caught off guard Tuesday when he was informed that Memorial is discontinuing its men’s varsity volleyball program immediately.

He was looking forward to playing the game at a higher level with a good group of guys to see where he stacked up against some of the top student-athletes in the Atlantic University Sport.

His excitement was dashed pretty quickly Tuesday when he received a telephone call from Memorial’s director of athletics Karen Murphy informing him that the varsity men’s volleyball program will no longer be offered at Memorial.

According to a press release from MUN, the Department of Athletics notified the returning student-athletes and the coaching staff of the decision on Tuesday.

“We are forced to make hard decisions to maintain the integrity of our department and institution in difficult fiscal times,” Murphy said in the press release.

Trent University in Ontario and Memorial were two places he was thinking about when he looked at where he wanted to be after high school, but he eventually committed to playing with the Sea-Hawks because he thought it would be the best fit for him.

He was caught off guard by the decision. He’s not sure what the future holds for him now because his focus hasn’t changed: he wants to play competitive volleyball at a university where he can pursue a kinesiology degree.

Playing at the AUS level would allow him to play the game at the highest level available to the elite volleyball players who come from this province so he may not find out how far he could take his game.

“When I was told I didn’t know what to say or what to think,” Taylor said. “I just didn’t know what to think after she told me because ever since I said I would play for the Sea-Hawks I’ve been thinking about next year and thinking what’s it going to be like, and now it’s all uncertain because I don’t know where I’m going to go or if I’m going to be playing volleyball or not.”

No longer committed to anybody, he has a few months to figure out what to do next, but he’s trying to remain upbeat after receiving the disappointing news.

“I’m hoping to get in touch with some other coaches and hopefully get an opportunity to play,” he said. “All I can do right now is hope that coaches don’t have their rosters full already.”

Taylor is keeping himself busy and in tip-top shape as he prepares to represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg later this summer.